Brilliance
by ProjectAzathoth
Summary: Gotta' love the Ocean Dub, right? This "what if" retelling covers the History of Bardock special, and the events of Dragon Ball Z up to at least the Freeza saga. The "what if" is: What if Bardock was a brilliant scientist and an average fighter?


In the remains of a city on Universe 7's planet Kanassa, the four soldiers responsible for laying waste to the planet sat together. One was pale and fat, and also didn't have much of a neck. His armor was broken off at the arms and there was a cut on his face. One was large and dark, with a head shaped somewhat like an iron. One was tall and handsome, and his skin tone resembled the average of the group. The last was a woman, who wore a single earring.

The fat one rubbed his cheek. "Damn, still stings. That nasty little fishman."

"I wouldn't call them fishmen, considering they don't live underwater." the woman noted in a snarky tone.

"Well, they look like fish. Wonder if they taste like it, too."

The tall one responded to this. "You know, Panbukin, you always joke about eating the people on whatever planet we're assigned to, but I've yet to see you do it."

"I'm watching my weight." Panbukin defended.

"Yeah, watching it increase." The large one smiled at this, which didn't go unnoticed by Panbukin.

"Oh, Toteppo, think that's funny? Toma's a real comedian, is he?"

Toteppo sat in silence for a moment. "Gine is recovering well," he said, changing the subject.

The woman smiled. "If this one takes after her, he should be cute," she said. She retrieved her lunch and began eating.  
The others did the same. "So," she continued, "d'ya think Bardock will be going to see his son?"

"Celipa, you know he doesn't care." Toma said. "He hardly ever sees… what's his name?"

"His other son?" Panbukin asked. "It was Reddish or something, right?"

"Something like that." Toma replied. "He's a bit of a weakling, isn't he?"

"Yeah, takes after his father." Panbukin said, swallowing a large mouthful and adding "Except, he's not as bright."

Celipa's face scrunched up in realization. "Speaking of not being very bright, why didn't the Kanassans prepare for us coming here? They're supposed to be psychic, after all."

Toma had eaten a large portion of his rice and hadn't touched much else. He went in for another forkful but stopped, deciding to spread the rest of it out through the meal. "You know, rice really is the best. It can such a simple dish, but I'm never not in the mood for it." he said. "But, about the psychic thing. I think how it works is, if you see what's going to happen in the future, you can't change it."

Celipa brought up a finger, not ready to accept this. "But that doesn't make any sense. Just because they had the vision doesn't make it impossible for something else to happen. Wasn't there at least a chance they could have escaped or something, and changed the future?"

Toma shook his head. "No, you see, you can't change the future. That's why it's the future instead of just something that might happen."

"What? That doesn't explain how just knowing about something means it can't be avoided."

Toma had the exasperated look of someone who knows very little about something and is trying to explain it to someone who knows even less than them.  
"Wait, I remember Bardock saying something about that to me. It's called, uh, determinationism. So, if you see what's going to happen, you having that knowledge was already, like, taken into account. Something like that."

Celipa pondered this for a few moments before giving up. "Well, I'm not going to pretend to understand anything Bardock talks about. But, I'm glad Kakarot was born healthy."

Panbukin, several steps behind in listening to this conversation, had a blank look on his face. "Does that mean if the fishmen didn't _see_ the future, it wouldn't have happened?"

* * *

The beings gathered together were of various species, shapes and sizes, but they all wore labcoats with the same insignia. The insignia depicted a dark blue oval encased in a strange white shape. On each side of the white shape there was a black horn. The overall product seemed to resemble a head. One being, a green, hunchbank reptile, was carefully placing samples of soil into vials.

He spoke casually to the man next to him, without looking up from his work. "So, the birth went well?"

His colleague read the display on a machine and adjusted a few dials. "For Kakarot, at least," he answered. "Although the baby in the birth pod next to him wasn't so lucky."

The reptile looked up at him. "Did something go wrong?" he asked, and then when the man didn't seem to notice he added, "Bardock?"

Bardock's muscles were not as prominent as some of the other Saiyans. His acquaintances in Toma's Planet Elite Force (which had the additional member of Bardock's wife, who was busy recovering from labor) were a mixed bag, but were generally representative of a finer Saiyan warrior than him. He had a slight tan which he got during his time spent doing field work outdoors, and the scar on his left cheek was obtained when a laboratory furnace exploded and a wayward shard of glass cut his face. He looked up from his controls.

"Uh, right," he said. "Well, I know my power level isn't very high for a Saiyan. I don't have the toughest body and so my immune system isn't the best. When Raditz was born I had the doctor give him an immunization so he could better deal with any infections on alien planets. I had the same thing done for Kakarot, but there was baby born the same day, in the pod right next to Kakarot's, and the doctor gave the immunization to him by mistake. He was a tough child with a power level of 10,000, but he had a bad reaction to the injection and ended up dying."

The reptile set a vial down and looked at Bardock in disbelief. "10,000!?" he repeated. "And just a baby? You Saiyans are frightening."

"Yeah, well," Bardock said with a silly grin, shaking his hands, "Freeza better watch out, right?"

The reptile chuckled. "Sure," he said, pointing, "but how would you beat someone who always knows what you're going to do?"

The Saiyan put on a more serious look. He shut off the machine he was using and said "Actually, I don't think Freeza will be able to develop the Kanassan's abilities, or we'll be able to replicate them."

"So, the planet's radiation isn't the cause?"

"Probably not, Akalam," Bardock said. "I did have a theory, though. There are high levels of carbon near Kanas' sun and I thought these carbon currents were feeding into the star, causing it to prematurely go supernova. I thought the radiation from that would have been what given them their precognition."

"Which was fundamentally wrong, of course," Akalam pointed out.

"Yes," Bardock agreed, "so when the Kanassans said their abilities were natural, they were probably telling the truth. Still, they might have gained the ability long ago and forgot they didn't always have it. Having a specimen to test on could have helped, so maybe the Saiyans should have kept one of them alive."

"They did," said a weary, vengeful voice from behind. A pile of rocks shook and fell apart, and from underneath rose a blue, scaled man with fishlike features. He wore a tattered, pink shirt and scuffed armor.

Bardock turned to him. "So, they missed one." He looked at Akalam, who was hurrying away.

The Kanassan breathed heavily. "By 'they,' he spat, "you mean your people. You idiotic baboons who slaughtered my comrades!"

Bardock combed his hand through his hair. "I promise you I'm no idiot," he said. "Besides, I wasn't on the squad that did that."

The Kanassan staggered forward and pointed a finger. "But you associate with them," he accused. "And here you are trying to develop the gift of foresight for your ruthless Emperor."

"Just doin' my job," the Saiyan said.

"You're a coward and a bastard, just like your ruler."

Bardock put a hand on his holster. His blaster, which he had developed himself, was smaller and lighter than the arm cannons used by the army members around his power level. However its blasts were not any weaker and it was more energy efficient. It didn't resemble the black, sleak laser rifles of sci-fi action movies; it looked more toyish and, fittingly, alien. His physical and ki attacks may not be very powerful, but Bardock was a good shot with a blaster. He pulled it out of the holster and turned.

"Prepare yourself for a fate worse than death," the Kanassan said, now in front of Bardock.

The Saiyan lifted the blaster. He aimed it at the Kanassan, who then sent a fist surrounded in white flame into the scientist's stomach. A peculiar feeling struck the Saiyan. It was if were suddenly moving in a new direction he couldn't perceive or imagine. He felt himself growing weak and with a shaky arm he aimed the blaster at his attacker's head.

"Go on. Kill the last of my kind," the Kanassan said, "it won't save you from the madness of knowing your inevitable-"

Bardock pressed the contact on the blaster. A steaming hole formed through the Kanassan's forehead, who fell to the ground. Bardock dropped the blaster and fell, too.


End file.
